Notes:

Review: There are moments during Zeppelin’s colorful, sometimes psychedelic, non-stop 240-minute show in the eerie wastes of Earl’s Court (the Stones do 50 minutes or less), when Jimmy Page’s searing guitar, carried by 60,000 watts of power, cuts right through the senses like some fast-acting drug and virtually blots out everything but the music.

And with lead singer Robert Plant looking like some demented Shirley Temple – thick blond hair falling in ringlets across his shoulders, Miss Selfridge’s blouse slashed open to the navel, neck and arms adorned with jewelry and a Bardot pout to his lips – this in its field is one of the most astonishing examples of pure theatre I have ever seen anywhere.

Upthere on stage, flanked by 40 tons of equipment that is generating enough light to illuminate Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and London’s theatreland as well, Page in his black velvet suit embroidered with gold dragons allows a smile to flicker across a weary face. And 17,000 people burst into applause as he picks out the intro for Stairway to Heaven, one Zeppelin’s most popular numbers.

In contrast, the group’s keyboard player and bassist John Paul Jones is a shy, intense introvert who two years ago seriously considered giving up rock to apply for the job of chief organist at Winchester Cathedral.

He remains in the shadows laying down excellent sounds to form with John Bonham the rhythmic platform for Plant and Page’s exotic excesses.

“When Led Zeppelin are peaking, then kiss your skull goodbye!”… or so they say! (R. Gilchrist, May 20, 1975)

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Comments

Submit your personal review of a particular show you attended, updates, corrections, etc., which will be considered for addition to the official online archive.You may also contact the webmaster at: webmaster@ledzeppelin.com

The second night produces a much more relaxed and tight performance. No Quarter has to be one of the best versions ever and the acoustic section is incredibly intimate and effective. Jimmy's soloing, especially in the greatly expanded Over The Hills And Far Away, is staggering. The encores sound banal after the very good version of Dazed And Confused and the dramatic Stairway To Heaven.